My experience with the ICE throughout New England in the early Seventy's..When I was Ice Boating: ..I am 74 now. A nice rain on the ice would settle the snow...and "Stress Relieve" the ice. What does that mean..?? The prior hard freeze would make the ice "Brittle", and prone to crack..and form pressure ridges.

Relaxed ICE: I have sailed (DN Class Iceboat) on 2 inches of stress relieved Black ICE. As I sailed along I could see the ICE "Flex" below me...bulge downward as I sailed over it. Just my experience. :) NB

PS:
The last time I sailed on Winni in an Ice Boat was On April 1, out of Glendale. Light air..lots of holes 30 feet in diameter) where Bob Houses had been. We sailed for maybe 20 minutes, then got off the ice. We couldn't see the holes until we were on top of them. Dangerous.

Ice Update and excursion to Bear Island.

Yesterday morning I took off to BI. Made it out there, but I will caution anyone thinking of making that trip, don't do it the ice conditions are way to variable and there are a number of pressure ridges out there that have fairly large gaps in the ice with open water. It's simply not adviseable to go out there - my guess we are 3 to 4 weeks away from ice out, what is out there will not last long. I for one will not attempt another crossing, except by boat when the ice is out.

Ready for Ice Out
 

I gave up yesterday on heading out towards Mink Island today. Too much warm weather and not enough ice. The pic from my IP Cam showed a lot of surface water even at 8 in the morning. Given the weather forecast for the next week, I think the lake will remain unsafe the rest of this season.

Here's hoping for an early ice-out!

Mink Island Pic
 

Things looking pretty bleak looking north from Mink Island.

You usually post about visiting Mink Island at least once a winter.
When was the last time you were unable to get to your island place in the winter? Has it happened before?

Bad winters
 

I think I sat out the entire winter in 2010 (Ice Out declared March 24th) and got out to the island once in 2012 (Ice Out March 23).

If that's any indication, then we're about 5 weeks away from ice out....

Well better than 1998. There was no ice IN!

This has been a tough year for winter activities. It was in the mid 50s saturday around here and is supposed to be the same this Thursday.

For those that venture on the ice, please use caution and consider buying some ice picks.

How about more life insurance !

Winnisquam
 

I was surprised to see a Bob house infront of our place on Winnisquam, as it has been open water most of the winter. From my camera this morning it looks like he moved it a bit last night.

Looking across the lake I only saw a few people on foot over near the state park.

I did not venture on the ice as I was by myself and my access was not very good; looked like a lot of water on top of the smooth ice along the shore. So I cleaned my gutter and left. Also odd was the pint water bottles I left in the crawl space had not fully frozen.

Drone photos
 

Sent the drone up over the weekend around Sleeper's Island and in Alton Bay

First pic is between Sleeper's and mainland (Mouth of Small's Cove is in the upper left)
Second is looking towards Rattlesnake
Third is looking down on Sleeper's (mainland side)
Fourth is Alton bay with some ice fishing activity going on

I'll have a short video to post either tonight or tomorrow

Thanks
 

Thanks for the pix of Rattlesnake!! I can see my camp and it's still standing😱

Anyone know what's causing the yellow color on the ice near Shibley's in the last photo?

Going out on a limb
 

Beer drinkers?:laugh:

Good one .......

As promised, here is the link to a short drone video of the lake conditions. The ice looks crazy from the air!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vx3zL4377VE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx3zL4377VE

Piece of advice--if you are going to venture out on the ice, take some small wood blocks and tie a length of string between them long enough to go from one sleeve through the other on your jacket. Put a nail or screw through each block. May seem a little janky, but if you fall through the ice, they'll be there for you to grab on to and pull yourself out with.

Given that's the only way to safely be on the ice on most of the lake...I'll pass, and keep looking forward to a late march ice-out.

Here is a pic from this past Saturday out on Bear Island... if taken at just the right angle it looks like the ice is already out!

Any indication we will get any news on the Derby

If they haven't cancelled it by now It's highly unlikely they will... Per their facebook page right now its a go.

For the first time in many years I have decided to stay home...

Good luck if you go and be safe!

Dan

on WMUR tonight...
 

Haley Lapointe did a live feed from Meredith, talking to someone from the Derby. He said it is on, that it is a statewide event, that fishermen have been fishing for centuries and know how to do it safely. He simply cautioned everyone to be safe, fish on safe ice, and have a good time.

I agree with Ishoot308... I'll stay off the ice too.;)

http://www.nhpr.org/post/ice-fishing...s-lakes-region

And besides, if the ice fishing derby is cancelled, the Rotary Club as well as the local hotels would probably have to refund all their entry ticket and reservations money.....which is, all by itself, an excellent reason not to cancel the derby.

In addition to the largest fish in each category, there will be a contest for the combined weight and number of ice fisherman drowned over the course of the 3-day event. My guess is 3 with combined weight of 661.5 pounds.

Like they say on the TV show "Shark Tank". The ice is to thin therefore "I'm out"

How does one determine if the ice is "safe"?

Going out and cutting holes seems to be a catch 22 for figuring this out. :eek:

Cut the first hole in water you know you can walk back to shore from. Work out from there. My preferred method is to let someone else try it first, but I have used the above method also.

The ice is too thin and my arse is too wide!!:D:D

I think I'll be at the Lyons Den bar having a cold one staying dry while watching all the fun...

Dan

Anecdotal proof of Darwin's theory.

Oh yeah? Enlighten us please.

Obviously "survival of the fittest".

Lol, oh, that's what she meant. I go to about 3 feet of water, drill a hole, if the ice is at least 5 inches thick I go another 20 feet. If I fall in at 3 feet, my shoes and pants get wet, I walk back, hasn't happened yet. If the next hole less than 5" I'm done, my limit, others will do less maybe 4 inches, that's still safe for walking. I'll usually drill 5 or 6 holes if I'm unsure, 20 or so feet at a time. I always carry ice picks too.

......... 6' spikes for 22-cents ea?
 

...... for just 22-cents, u can buy a very sturdy 6" galv common nail at Lowe's which probably qualifies to be a spike ......so by having two of these spikes attached to a thin line, that's running up your sleeve, across your shoulders, and down the other sleeve; you have a gripper system to claw your way back out of the water, and onto the ice. It's truly amazing how much strength one has in this situation......at least for the first 60-seconds.


So, I plan to be selling these home made ice grips, from a spot on solid ground that's close to the derby hq, for the very low price of just $14.95/set.



Got to make it when u can!

its amazing what a week of warm temps and rain will do to the lake. The first pic is last week 02/18/2016 and the second pic is this morning 02/25/2016.

Good luck with that I'm sure everyone will stop at Walmart and buy a set for $1.99 and avoid the FLL markup.

Sorry for being cryptic. "Darwin's theory" was to your "I let someone else go first." lol

.......... 57-degrees and sunny?
 

....and sunny, but that could be changing fast as it looks like gray rain clouds are mov'n in fast ......so's how's about that ........ 57-degrees on Thurs, Feb 25, at about noon .....here in Meredith from the McDonald's p-lot!

Since it is statewide I assume a lot of the smaller lakes that have a good coating of ice will be overwhelmed with people fishing them. Should be an interesting weekend.

......open water return-eth-ing!
 

Looks like the open water has done return-eth ......at least the open water I can see looking out from my mega-million dollar waterfront mcmansion ........ just in the last few hours....located between Bear-Mark-Governors Islands.....maybe 1/2-mile x one mile in size ......what was ice is now open.
...........

....... oopsie-doopsie......must make a correction to my above comments about the open water.....and just getting home at about 5:15 and taking a good look at the lake .....it is, in fact, all frozen solid with no open water as I said above......my bad and apologies offered for that incorrect comment......apparently I was fooled by what must have been a lot of standing water that was rippling with the breeze and certainly seemed like open water, but now about 3-hours later is all ice.

Sorry about that!

You can get them for 6 bucks, probably at Wally world, and, unlike your nails, I think the ones I have will float.

Today I was driving from Wolfeboro to Tilton along the lake. At the same time, my wife was on the Gulf Coast of mid-FL. The temperature between the two?...7 degrees!